ENTER SOUNDMEN Technicians priceless part of Folk Festival

loading...

They work behind the scenes, and, if they’re good, they go unnoticed. They come early and they stay late. They work for pay vastly disproportionate to the services they provide. They are the kind of people Jackson Browne would write a song about.

They are a big reason events such as The American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront go off with hardly a hitch.

About 60 professional stage managers, sound engineers and technicians will be scattered around the Queen City’s waterfront this weekend. They won’t be under the lights or in front of the microphones, but each will have a responsibility to make sure all five music stages produce sound that delights casual listeners and hard-core folkies alike.

“It’s easy to find engineers that have a specialty, but to have these folks that can do it all, it’s priceless,” said Julia Olin, executive director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, which selects and lines up the performers. “You can’t believe how difficult it is and how rare it is to have folks who can deal with everything from Tibetan monk music to bluegrass and everything in between.”

Nearly all of this year’s technical staff worked the previous three years when the National Folk Festival was held in Bangor. That event has moved on to Richmond, Va., but the NCTA has kept its resources behind The American Folk Festival and by doing so has retained the same technical staff that made the last three years such a success.

“It’s a lifelong commitment to many of these folks … only a handful of people in the world can do what they do,” Olin said.

For many of the technical wizards, the now annual rendezvous in Maine has become a sort of family reunion.

“It’s like summer camp in Bangor,” mused Steve Fisher of Washington, D.C., who designs the sound systems and oversees the engineers. “When you’re working events like this, you encounter things that are different from other events, and you need to be able to roll with the changes.”

Somewhere in his head, you can bet Fisher is humming REO Speedwagon. Of course, it’s easy to roll with the changes when the faces you’re working with are familiar.

“We have a core group we like to stay with,” agreed Mike Sullivan of Baltimore, sound engineer for the Railroad Stage. “We’re old pros at this point.

“These are like minivacations for me,” he added.

Festivals may seem like vacations, but make no mistake: These guys and gals are here to work. Sixteen-hour days are not uncommon. Sleep deprivation is standard. Caffeine is essential.

“Festivals are a labor of love,” said Jeanette Buck, stage manager for the Heritage Stage. “Yeah, they’re a little stressful, and we don’t usually get much sleep, but we do it because we enjoy the music … the experience.”

It comes as no surprise that Buck, Sullivan, Fisher and countless others have backgrounds as diverse as the musical acts for which they engineer the sound.

Fisher, an independent contractor out of Washington, D.C., often handles large-scale events for the NCTA. When the World War II memorial dedication ceremony was held on the National Mall last year, he was responsible for the sound.

Earlier in his career, though, Fisher had aspirations of being onstage rather than behind it.

“I was a keyboard player as a kid,” he said, almost reluctant to talk about his musical past. “I was only in one band, and we had a lot of flirtation with success back in the ’70s,” he said, laughing at the memory.

“But with drugs, sex and rock ‘n’ roll, we went the way of a lot of other bands,” he said, his voice trailing off.

“Still, our band was fairly successful, and we had a studio and all this equipment. So when things weren’t working out, I started renting out the equipment. That’s how I got into sound.”

Sullivan’s musical roots go back as far as Fisher’s.

“I worked my way through college playing bass in a wedding band,” he said. “I always liked it, but I couldn’t even begin to tell you why.”

Sullivan has been doing audio and visual engineering for more than 20 years, mostly at corporate functions. He said he gets to do events such as The American Folk Festival only a handful of times a year but relishes the chance to get back into music.

“I got into audio because I got sick of hearing bad sound,” he said. “All of us that come up, we’re all ex-musicians at heart.”

Buck, whose background is primarily in stage and film, readily admitted she’s way too busy this summer for the Folk Festival. She’s preparing for her fall semester at Ohio University where she will be a full-time professor but said there was no way she was not coming to Bangor. She’ll be the one dancing near the side of the stage, ready at a moment’s notice to leap into action should a problem arise.

“These events are great because you get to go places you’ve never been and see people you haven’t seen for years,” she said. “It’s such a great community experience.”

The remarkable thing about each of the technical professionals involved with The American Folk Festival, according to NCTA production director Dennis Blackledge, is the sacrifice they make for what amounts to about 60 percent of their normal income.

“They do it because they like what it’s about,” Blackledge said. “They feel like this is something worthwhile.”

“They aren’t there for the money,” Olin added. “They are slumming it, financially speaking.”

But these people, these ex-musicians at heart, the perpetually young and free-spirited, embrace these events as if they are a part of the show. And they are.

“When you’re a sound engineer, it’s like you’re a part of the band,” Fisher said. “You kind of make it your place … it’s fun even though it’s work.”

Besides, once all the performers are gone for the night and the sound systems are taken down, Fisher, Buck, Sullivan and their colleagues and friends will still be there, laughing, reminiscing and anticipating the next festival down the line.